Unmasked
by AsymptoticVernacular
Summary: Captain Janeway and Seven-of-Nine redefine the parameters of their relationship.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Paramount owns anything relating to Star Trek; the story is written for fun purposes only, NOT profit.

 **Unmasked**

Chapter 1

„Captain, I am so sorry, this mission is so important... I don't know what to say..." Neelix uttered apologetically.

"Don't worry Mr Neelix, you need to go back on Voyager and have the Doctor take a look at you. When you feel better maybe we'll still be here and you can join us. Until then Seven and I are going to do our best to bring back all we need. Mr Kim, help Mr Neelix to the shuttlecraft and contact Voyager. I am not sure if our badges will work trough this planet's magnetic field, so if you cannot contact us take the shuttlecraft back to Voyager and have another one land in the same spot in 12 hours from now. We shall be there then."

"Aye Captain" said Harry somewhat dejectedly. He had been really excited about this away team mission and now he had to become Neelix's nurse and babysitter. Looking for edible plants was not the most interesting task, but in current situation anybody bringing back food would be considered a hero. Voyager was running on minimal energy, it was became continually darkish over the past couple weeks, food rations were scarce and going to warp was virtually impossible. The moods were bleak, everybody was focused on finding some source of energy, of food in this part of empty space. There was a glimmer of hope, however. The most sensitive sensors discovered dilithium crystals within 20 light years. The only problem was getting there before the whole ship just stops and goes no further. The crystals appeared on the sensors five days ago and initially there was no way they would stop on their way. But two days ago they had been attacked by scavenger race, Dragcro ship. They must have been deemed dead or close to dying because normally Dragcro didn't attack well-functioning vessels with healthy crews. They had to fend them off and fire weapons on the fiendish ship, which drained their energy sources very badly. Now there was little chance of replicating anything and the stock they had amassed during previous missions was almost completely depleted. There was no possibility that the crew could go hungry for the next two and a half weeks- that being the estimated time of arrival at the expected destination where the crystals could be collected. Scanning for any class M planets began. The thorough search turned into a despairingly frantic one after nothing was to be found. The morale was low amid the constant stomach growls. It was him who first came across a glimmer of hope when he noticed a small red dot on his station's screen. His heart skipped a beat, he checked, recalibrated the sensors, double-checked and informed the Captain. Soon they were soaring through space on a shuttlecraft- him, the Captain, Seven-of-Nine and Neelix. They were supposed to collect anything that was not toxic or potentially poisonous to their biology. Fast forward to him having to take Neelix back to Voyager after he had fallen off of a cliff and seriously injured himself. It's not to say he didn't feel bad for the Talaxian who was himself mortified and deadly disappointed, but still he resented having to forfeit the mission.

Harry Kim helped Neelix up and supporting his arm like a crutch, slowly led him in the direction of the shuttlecraft. They didn't expect any living creatures- they had scanned the landing place with a twenty mile radius around it thoroughly for life signs and it turned out negative every single time. They strolled through the purplish shrubbery, the sky above them turning dark green, two bright dots on the firmament warming their skin and blinding their eyes.

Captain Janeway sighed and turned to Seven whose left eyebrow was raised curiously.

"Let's go" her raspy voice commanded. Seven was ready to obey. She activated her tricorder and analysed the data it displayed. She pointed north- west and started walking towards some sort of a reservoir. They noticed a faint fog suspended over the surface of the water. The air was permeated with a sulphurous smell, it stung their eyes and burned their throats. Seven checked the readings.

"Not toxic", she stated matter-of-factly and continued to the bank. She kneeled and looked into the green liquid – it was not transparent but it did seem clean, reflecting green sky above in its 2 metre depth. Seven noticed small round dark objects floating all around the water. She tried to fish one out with a stick but it was slippery and eluded her. Captain Janeway watched amused as the former Borg grappled for the mysterious wet shapes. She admired Seven's agility and stubbornness.

'Seven, you've got to use a better suited tool for the task at hand", she finally offered. She broke off a couple of purple leaves from the nearby shrubs and tied the blades with their stalks. Then she tied this contraption to the end of a stick and approached the water bank. She stooped and reached out. She scooped one object on her leafy spoon and picked it up. Seven's lips grimaced in a wry smile.

"Efficient", she said and pointed a tricorder to the object. Her eyes widened hardly perceptibly, but it was enough to pique Captain Janeway's interest. She was attuned to even the faintest signs of the ex-Borg's body language.

"What is it?"she asked.

"These objects are composed of proteins in 95 % and carbohydrates in 3%, they are non-toxic and seem to be compatible with human biology", she stated coolly.

"Bingo!", exclaimed Captain Janeway, her eyes gleaming as she took in the sheer abundance of floating objects in the water.

"Does that mean that our mission is over?" Seven asked with a slight tremor in her voice. Janeway suspected she knew what it was about- this away mission was a chance to unwind- the atmosphere aboard Voyager wasn't at its best lately. But her first duty was to the ship and she did feel relieved that they managed to find some food. Maybe there would be enough of these objects to sustain the crew for the whole trip to where the crystals are located. She hoped so. And yes, she too felt like she could use some more time on the planet surface with Seven, just the two of them. Nevertheless she pressed her commbadge.

"Janeway to Voyager"

Nothing. She looked at Seven, Seven looked back. Janeway tried again. Nothing. Seven pressed her commbadge.

"Seven to Voyager"

Nothing. They looked at each other, anxiety taking over incomprehension.


	2. Chapter 2

Unmasked

Chapter 2

„Captain, there seems to be a strong magnetic interference," Seven stated looking at the tricorder data.

"Janeway to Kim, Janeway to Neelix," the Captain tried anew. Nothing. "They must have managed to take off already," she sighed. She did wish for a somewhat prolonged stay planetside, but this was not what she had in mind.

"Captain, there seems to be an atmospheric disturbance brewing two miles north. According to my estimation it is going to reach our current position within twenty Earth minutes," Seven's voice penetrated Janeway's ruminations.

"I hope they managed to break the atmosphere before all this could affect the shuttlecraft's path," Janeway stated, a hint of anxiety audible in the timbre of her voice.

"They would have gotten to the landing place approximately an hour and a half ago, and the disturbance only just started 10 minutes ago, it is therefore logical that they would have managed to reach Voyager unscathed," Seven reasoned.

"Of course you're right Seven," Janeway agreed.

She looked at the former Borg and was glad she was here with her. Due to all the problems back on Voyager she hasn't had much time for Seven lately. She did miss their interactions which often resembled those of an overbearing but well-meaning mother and her precocious but extremely stubborn child. But she also wanted to change them, transform the mentor-protégée dynamic into one of friends, at least in private. She would still expect Seven to obey her orders just like any other crew member, but she also longed for a more intimate relationship with her, one based on trust and mutual understanding. She had noticed that Seven was becoming more mature, that every day she was becoming more cognizant of all the intricacies, complexities and pitfalls of human nature. She soaked knowledge and voyeuristic experience like a sponge being exposed to a plentiful assortment of people on a daily basis. People who were suffering from claustrophobia, lack of privacy and loneliness. People who craved for contact with another, for friendship and love. People who had been trained to be professionals but who had been cracking due to stress and resignation. She was aware that the crew was stewing in the hermetic narrow circle of each other. Seven was privy to all that, she has witnessed many a scenes, overheard many a conversations that normally would be hidden, played out behind closed doors- maybe even would never happen because the participants would be able to avoid each other. On a ship Voyager's size that was a luxury. Sooner or later people stumbled upon their scorned lovers, their ex-best friends, their traitorous confidantes. Everybody tried to do their best but living for such a long time in such a close proximity was taking a toll on everybody. Holodeck could only help as much. Some people developed profound relationships with holograms, they created their private lives like an author would a holonovel.

Seven watched all these emotions displayed all around the ship, she started to develop her own needs, but she had very little opportunities to experiment socially. Janeway empathized- she was in the same, or even worse, situation. She could not afford to show weakness, to give anybody a glimpse into her own insecurities and fears. She had to be strong for her crew, she had to lead them and command trust and respect. Still at least she had her childhood to fall back on as well as experiences in her adult life, which meant that now even though she felt deprived, she also felt like she had been given a lot of opportunities to experience all the human emotions for herself before her ship got stranded in the Delta Quadrant. Seven, on the other hand, was not as lucky. Her formative years have been spent as a part of the Collective that wiped out all her individual thoughts, needs and feelings. It obscured her early memories of being loved and doted on by her parents. It took away from her all the foundations on which a psychologically and mentally healthy, well-balanced adult can fall back in moments of great stress and perturbation. She was vulnerable and she needed support. But Janeway felt that what Seven truly needed at this stage of her reintegration into human society was no longer a mentor, a parent-figure, she now needed a peer, a friend.

"Captain, I strongly suggest we start moving southward and searching for a shelter," Seven's voice punctured its way through Kathryn's reverie. What the hell was going on with her? Was it the strain and stress of the last couple of weeks catching up with her? She discarded all the random thoughts and pondered the precariousness of their situation.

"Yes, let's go for now," she said. They should be heading north- where their landing site was, and were another shuttlecraft was due in 10 hours. But that would not be sensible, they would have to survive this storm, or whatever it was, first.

They started moving, their pace steady. Suddenly small drops of water started falling off the sky. The ground beneath their boots was getting soggier, the wind was now blowing strongly distorting shapes of the numerous shrubs all around.

"Captain, I'm reading a rock structure this way." Seven had to shout pointing south-east.

"Let's go, and let's go quickly," Janeway led the way.

They were marching fast now, barely short of running, amid the tumult of rainfall and strong wind. It was getting darker by the minute and they had to strain their eyes in order to see anything in a descending twilight. Suddenly Janeway pointed to a protrusion sticking from the ground.

"I think we found our cave," she said triumphantly.

They approached the rocky entrance and had to bend down in order to enter it. It was pitch dark and cold inside but it was much less noisy and provided shelter from the rain. They kneeled down, Seven calibrated the tricorder so it could serve as a flashlight. She pointed it inwards and a bigger cavern was illuminated. They proceeded to it and could stand up.

"We'll have to get cosy in here for now. It looks like the storm may last a while," Janeway uttered in a hoarse voice.

"Agreed" said Seven unperturbed.

"You're taking it all rather well," observed the Captain.

"Yes" Seven's voice didn't betray any emotions.

"Well, I hope that you won't be so talkative all the time," Janeway offered with a wry smile.

"No" answered Seven.

Silence. Both women looked at each other. It was not an uncomfortable silence, it was companionable. They both, only partly unbeknownst to each other, enjoyed it. They sat down on the ground.


	3. Chapter 3

Unmasked

Chapter 3

„Captain, according to the tricorder data the storm is now raging outside this cavern," Seven stated matter-of-factly, inspecting the portable device.

"It's good then that we found this place on time, otherwise it could get a bit scary out there," Janeway said winking at the ex-Borg.

"Captain, you do not seem to be bothered by this," Seven inquired nonplussed.

"Seven, it's just a storm, it'll subside, we'll go back to the ship. As simple as that. And in the meantime I might actually welcome some peace and quiet," Janeway 's voice echoed in the cavern.

"Captain," Seven stopped in her tracks when Janeway raised her hand.

"Call me Kathryn," she offered. She wanted to ask Seven to call her by name some time ago, but there never seemed to be an appropriate moment. It was more and more difficult onboard Voyager to find enough time to talk to the woman, let alone come up with something like that only to insist a minute later she call her Captain again in front of other members of the crew. Here they were alone, they had time. She was glad.

"Kathryn?" Seven's eyebrow raised high, it looked as if it would join her hairline if it was raised just a bit higher.

"When we're in private, you can call me Kathryn, if you want of course," explained Janeway with a hint of insecurity in her voice. She hoped Seven would welcome this possibility, but the ex-Borg seemed rather perplexed.

"Very well Cap-.. Kathryn," Seven said coolly. She managed to keep her exterior poise intact, but inside she was getting excited. Not an unwelcome emotion, but rather difficult to keep to oneself. She did not know where this was going, she had spent too much time acting out various scenarios on the holodeck- she didn't trust herself with her imagination. What if she would end up reading too much into an innocuous, friendly request? What if she turned out to be presumptuous, or worse if the Captain, that is, Kathryn would find out about all the ways her photonic image was used by Seven? She did not feel particularly sure of herself, so she decided to betray nothing.

"Seven, is there anything you'd like to talk to me about?" Janeway sounded worried. Seven was so detached and distant. Has she lost the connection with her? Has she been too busy, too unavailable to her that she was now recoiling?

"What specifically do you have in mind?" Seven's heart started speeding up. She was glad that the still remaining in her system nanoprobes would soon normalize her pulse and she would seem unaffected by the question. She wanted to talk to Kathryn about so many things though. She just didn't know how to state her needs. That was a definitely new development- before she was more than ready to speak her mind openly even if it verged on being insolent. This newfound hesitancy was inefficient, yet she didn't know how to eradicate it. Running countless diagnostics didn't help, she has already tried that. Just about when all these strange feelings and emotions started to appear she had thought there was something wrong with her system, with her human body, with the human implants, with her left-over Borg implants, with the alcove; she even considered being under some sort of mind-control. She checked everything herself, had the Doctor perform a thorough check-up on her under the guise of not feeling well. Yet there seemed to be nothing out of ordinary, supposedly she continued to function within normal parameters. But her thoughts wandered, she daydreamed, she was not … efficient.

"Anything you want" Janeway looked Seven straight in the eyes- two big, perfectly round blue orbs looked back at her . "Look, I know I might have been a bit unavailable to you lately Seven, but I would like to be there for you now." She smiled encouragingly and waited, her heart pounding in her chest. _Come on Seven, work with me._

"I believe I missed you," the words were out of Seven's mouth before she even realised she had been wanting to say them to the Captain for so long.

"I am sorry Seven, I .." Janeway's voice was pained.

"I understand" Seven interrupted. She didn't want the Captain to feel bad. She understood. She witnessed all the problems Voyager had been facing of late and she knew that the Captain was focused on solving each and every one of them for the crew. She did feel neglected- that was the term she learned to apply to her feelings after she observed this one particular quarrel between Lieutenant Paris and Chief Engineer Torres. Apparently Tom, as he insisted she call him, felt that he was not been paid enough attention to, that he was kept waiting too long and that he was not cared for anymore. He said that he was neglected. That is how she, Seven, felt when the Captain told her she couldn't talk to Seven at that time but could she please come later, and then when she did the Captain was busy again and listened only perfunctorily. She could see how stressed and exhausted Janeway was so she did not take it personally- not really, but it still hurt. She felt guilty also, she so wanted to help the Captain but there was only so much she could do. Sometimes there was little assistance she could offer and that didn't make her feel good either.

"Do you?" Janeway wanted to make absolutely sure.

"Yes. However, that does not mean that I condone," Seven stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh?"

"I do think that you work too much. Getting yourself sick will not benefit the crew," Seven explained. She could not erase an image of Janeway swaying on her last legs and injecting herself with a hypospray as she was limping her way to the Engineering after working eight hours straight in the Jeffries tubes modifying new gel packs, which she started after having completed her shift on the Bridge. Even though Voyager was going through an epidemic then and the crew was abysmally shorthanded as its consequence, she thought that the Captain should not have behaved that way.

"Seven, I am the Captain, I feel responsible and I could not rest knowing something could be done and I was not lending a hand," she said honestly.

Seven was about to say she felt responsible for the crew also, when suddenly a piercingly loud thunder hit their eardrums as if the cave was struck by a lightning, or some sort of a weapon.


	4. Chapter 4

Unmasked

Chapter 4

"Captain, the structural integrity of this cave is affected," Seven analysed the tricorder data with difficulty due to strong tremors shaking the ground.

The noise was so deafening that it still reverberated in their eardrums, the walls cracking all around. They were trapped. Janeway looked around frantically. The entrance was now cluttered with huge chunks of rock.

"Let's go this way Seven, quick," she pointed in the direction of a small dark corridor leading further inside the cave. They had to crawl, the passage was very narrow. Their hands and knees wet and painful, they headed towards a glimmer of light visible in the distance. The space they just vacated was now under deluge from chunks of falling rock. They continued until a spacious cavern permeated with red-hue and humid air was reached. They stood up and examined the place.

"It'll have to do for now, the structure is sturdy, so we are safe for now," Janeway assessed with assurance.

"It is hot" Seven complained. Her highly adaptable body was at risk of overheating. Janeway took of her jacket, her forehead strewn with large beads of sweat.

"If the heat turns out unbearable, we'll have to search for other nooks and crannies, maybe there're further caverns with different environmental conditions," Janeway asserted. "For now, try to take of unnecessary layers, Seven."

"Captain, hmm, Kathryn, I never take of my biosuit off," Seven said alarmed.

"There always has to be that first time, but don't take off all of it, maybe unzip it a little, and see if it feels better," Janeway suggested. She walked over to the ex-Borg and offered her assistance. She unfastened the suit a bit and after closer inspection of its fabric and design discovered that it was possible to separate the arm and leg parts of it. Carefully, she proceeded to do just that. Seven was experiencing a series of tingly sensations all over her body, which she could not explain. She was feeling relieved though, the tight garment was beginning to suffocate her.

Both women were now bare legged, bare armed and wet with sweat. They reclined next to the rock and waited. Seven analysed the tricorder data.

"The storm will subside in twenty minutes. The estimated time of arrival of the shuttlecraft is in five hours, but after the atmospheric conditions stabilize we can try to contact Voyager," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Yes, that's what we'll do," Janeway's voice was very quiet and weak. Seven looked at her and noticed that Kathryn was dozing off. It seemed unusual for her to fall asleep like that. Seven recalibrated the tricorder and scanned the air for abnormalities. High levels of halothane were detected. Seven's nanoprobes would counteract its anaesthetising properties but Janeways respiratory system would absorb the molecules and transport them into the bloodstream. Seven was disconcerted. How could she have missed it before? She was not so much worried about Janeway's well-being because the gas was not toxic, its influence was only temporary; when no longer inhaled, its effects would wear off quickly and without leaving any side-effects. But Seven felt lonely, she missed having Janeway's attention, hearing her throaty voice, looking into her eyes, now hidden behind heavy lids. She knew she had two options- one: wait for the storm to end and then search for the way out of the cave, two: find another space, which meant go even deeper inside the cavern, where there would be no halothane, or any other unusual gases. She knew the first one was probably the most reasonable, but she felt so desolate, so utterly alone that she decided to go with the second. She got up and started inspecting all the rocky walls. Diligently she started to examine the surrounding surfaces inch by inch until she came across a boulder that seemed to be covering up a hole. She pushed it with her Borg-enhanced hand, only the superhuman strength allowing her to remove the heavy cumbrance. She pointed the tricorder toward the entrance to the chamber and waited for the geological, chemical, physical and microbiological analyses to run their respective courses. The purplish hue and heat filling the enclosure were somewhat overwhelming. She read with growing interest. It appeared that the cavern was artificially made for different rocks were coming from different periods and were of different chemical make-up. Such diversity would not normally occur naturally due to various geological features in close proximity sharing the same origin and being subjected to the same external conditions. The assortment of such sundry elements could not possibly have just happened. Some life forms, intelligent ones at that, had to do it. For what purpose seemed unclear. There was no bio-signs anywhere, so whoever did this was no longer there. The atmosphere was composed of nitrogen in 80%, oxygen in 19% and 1% iodine, which probably explained the colour. There was a steaming spring of black liquid from which the gaseous iodine emanated. Seven's nostrils and throat were starting to get irritated. She put the boulder back in its place and continued her search, making a mental note of all the facts she's just discovered. The minutes were passing by and she was getting more desperate. The passage that led them to this place was too narrow for Seven to be able to carry Kathryn to the next side. She barely fit it the first time on her own, but there was no other alternative. She wondered if it would be possible to wake Janeway up at least for a moment and so she shook her arm. "Kathryn, can you hear me?" There was no reaction. She sighed deeply starting to feel uneasy. She checked her internal chronometer – there were twelve more minutes of storm left. Suddenly she heard some noise in the distance. She checked with the tricorder. No bio-signs. There was no one there. Or at least their biological signature was not recognised as such. She approached the wall from behind which a more distinct commotion could be heard. She reached for her phaser and held it up in anticipation.


	5. Chapter 5

Unmasked

Chapter 5

Seven's hand was steady, she was ready to fire- the setting was on stunt only. She quickly analysed the situation- an unknown life form could be behind the wall. Its bio-signs didn't register as such, which meant any biological features could not be determined. She had no way of knowing whether this setting would be enough to neutralize its attack if such a need should arise. However, she could not bring herself to set the phaser to kill, because she was no longer Borg, she no longer wanted to resort to annihilating individuality as a default first contact strategy. Assimilating in her mind was akin to killing. The body was left living but the mind, soul- if such a thing existed- was a different matter. Maybe it was actually preferable to be killed rather than enslaved by another in the most pernicious way possible. For most of her life her thoughts were not her own, and her original thoughts had to filtered through thousands thoughts of others. She still felt violated. She now wanted to reach her humanity, to atone for all the pain she had caused. She could not bring herself to kill whoever or whatever was behind the wall. She waited with bated breath. The boulder dividing the two chambers and fitting the wall seamlessly was now moving slowly aside. She did not move, her heart slowed down by remnants of nanoprobes circulating in her bloodstream. She was glad that the Captain was sitting slightly behind her to the left. She would not be immediately visible to anyone entering at this angle. She watched curiously as huge, shapeless, purple blobs appeared to drift in the air through the hole. There were three of them. She was surprised, did not know how to react. The blobs appeared to have sensed or spotted her. They froze, their colour started changing. Soon their bodies were the brownish colour matching the chamber walls. She could barely see their contours with her human eye. Had she not known they were there and had it not been for her ocular implant which still contributed some information to her brain, she would probably no longer see them. Their bodies generated heat, the thermal imaging portrayed them as glowing red. She watched them and they apparently could sense her gaze because they started changing their colour again. This time they became transparent and their heat decreased so drastically that now they showed up as faint blue on the ocular imaging. Seven dropped her phaser. She understood that for them she was equally mysterious as they for her. She didn't detect any imminent danger from them. The fact that they were trying not to be seen suggested that it was them who were afraid. She turned the universal translator on and even though did not held out much hope for effective communication said: " We mean you no harm." The blobs shimmered and returned to their original purple. She took it as a good sign.

"We hid in here from the storm. We will be leaving this planet shortly," she continued.

The blobs waved their shapeless bodies. Faint humming noise emanated from one of them. Seven looked none-the wiser. The humming noise repeated, and again but each time it was changing, the frequency was modulated, the volume was modified. They continued the humming and Seven was able to distinguish singular phonemes that she could understand. The tuning of the hamming was in progress. Seven was now certain that the strange creatures were intelligent. They were trying to communicate with her, but first had to adjust to emit sound waves that would be decidable for her. Finally she thought she could distinguish the parts of the message that was being formulated: " Know not….. harm … who are you…. Why…"

"We come from planet Earth from the Alpha Quadrant, we came here to find some nourishment, we will be leaving soon, we are peaceful people," Seven tried to reassure them.

"Who.. why lie," the blobs started moving in Janeway's direction. Seven jumped and intercepted them, their shapeless bodies shimmered but remained purple.

"This is the Captain of our ship. The halothane in here made her doze off but she is fine," Seven asserted, standing protectively in front of Kathryn's limp body.

"You harm not halothane" the middle blob hummed.

"I do not get affected by it," Seven stated.

"What that" the far right blob approached the white protein-rich objects she had collected with the Captain in the lake outside. Seven wanted to offer an explanation but before she opened her mouth the blob hovered toward the objects and then when it was directly above them ,it lowered its shapeless mass on them and seemed to have engulfed them. It then raised its body again and came back to the two other blobs, the white objects left intact were they were. That blob then touched one other blob and they merged producing one huge blob. The remaining blob joined the others also. One large purple shapeless mass separated into original three blobs within a second. The middle blob hummed: "The eggs of caroanoli what you want the eggs"

"We found out they were rich in protein- that is our nourishment. We did not know these were eggs and we don't know what caroanoli is," Seven said.

"Nourishment what that" the blob asked.

"It's what we eat, what we need to live, to survive. Our bodies produce energy necessary for life from nourishment," Seven tried her best to give them the idea of what eating was. It seemed these life-forms did not extract nutrients from organic matter and their source of energy was not food. The concept of eating was strange to them.

"That no nourishment" the middle blob started hovering toward the form of unmoving, lying Janeway while Seven once again stepped right in front of it. The blob shimmered but it did not stop. It hovered right at Seven until its shapeless mass encroached on Seven's body. It engulfed Seven whole stretching in all sides and encapsulating Seven's whole body. Seven felt slightly warmer and she was able to detect that her lungs were receiving less oxygen. Just as she was about to do something, everything stopped, she could breathe normally again, the warm feeling disappeared and she saw a blob hovering toward Janeway. She did not stop it this time. It didn't want to harm, it wanted to get to know. That was its way of touching. It was not the most comfortable one but dealing with all kinds of alien life forms was meant to challenge one's own preconceptions about cognition and just about everything else.


End file.
